Monday, February 17, 2020

2 Nephi 3:4-5


Lehi continues his references to Joseph1 in his youngest son’s (Joseph2) blessing. 

Lehi reminds him he is descended from Joseph1 and the great covenants made with Joseph1 apply to him.  John Tvetdnes explains:

“Lehi termed Joseph ‘my last-born . . . born in the wilderness of mine afflictions’ and spoke to him of his inheritance in the New World, calling it ‘a most precious land’ (2 Nephi 3:1–3). He then went on to speak of their common ancestor, Joseph, who had been sold into Egypt (2 Nephi 3:4). The original Joseph was the last-born son of the patriarch Jacob (Israel) before he returned to the land promised to him (Genesis 28:13–15). It is significant, therefore, that Lehi's son Joseph was born in the wilderness, then went, as his ancestor Joseph, with his father to a land of promise.”[1]

Apparently, the brass plates contain a more detailed record then we have today.  Through Lehi, we learn that Joseph1 saw our day and obtained a promise that his descendants would include a righteous branch that would be broken off.  This refers to Lehi and his descendants. 

“Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
“The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
“But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; [it is from the lineage of Jacob that the Messiah comes].
“Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
“The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren” (Genesis 49:22-26).

“Probably because the brass plates were kept by the descendants of Joseph (1 Nephi 5:14; 2 Nephi 3:4), they contain records of the promises the Lord gave to Joseph that are no longer in the Bible (although see those restored in Genesis 50:24–38 JST). On his deathbed Lehi read these promises from the record to his family, and these promises are prominent throughout the Book of Mormon. Lehi revealed to his son Joseph that Joseph of Egypt saw the day of the Lehites and recognized that the Lord had broken off a branch of Israel and that the Messiah would be made manifest to them in the latter days (2 Nephi 3:5).”[2]

The covenants the Lord made with Joseph1 would apply to Lehi and his descendants even though they are separated from the remainder of Joseph1’s descendants.  The Messiah would appear to them and bring “them out of the darkness unto light – yea, out of hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom” (2 Nephi 3:5).  In his general epistle, the apostle John would write, “Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing was of old ordained of God; and is true in him, and in you: because the darkness is [passing away], and the true light now shineth” (JST 1 John 2:8).

“Joseph who saved his family in Egypt foretold that the Messiah would bring latter-day Lamanites ‘out of darkness unto light—yea, out of hidden darkness and out of captivity unto freedom’ (2 Nephi 3:5). Here we see the contrast between darkness and light linked with captivity and deliverance. Both sets of images communicate to us a process, a movement, a rebirth through which humans become whole by coming either to a physical or to a spiritual Promised Land or condition.”[3]


[1] Notes and Communications: "My First-Born in the Wilderness", John A. Tvedtnes,  Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
[2] Sacred History, Covenants, and the Messiah: The Religious Background of the World of Lehi, David Rolph Seely, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.
[3] Book of Mormon Imagery, Richard Dilworth Rust, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.

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